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VA reform compromise reached

The deal was announced at a news conference by Sen. Bernie Sanders (left), I-Vt., chairman of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee and Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., chairman of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee.(Photo: Associated Press)

Story Highlights

Congressional leaders have reached a compromise on legislation to reform the embattled VA.

The $17 billion bill proposed by House and Senate leader must be approved by the end of this week.

WASHINGTON – House and Senate negotiators announced Monday they reached a compromise on a $17 billion emergency package to begin reforming the troubled Department of Veterans Affairs, capping weeks of negotiations that appeared headed to impasse before the weekend.

The deal was widely lauded, though some observers said it might not go far enough in restructuring the troubled agency.

"The fact that the Senate and the House can get together on anything is a good sign," said Dr. Sam Foote, a retired VA physician and the first to blow the whistle on mismanagement at the Phoenix VA. "It was an excellent compromise because A, it does something, B, it does something intelligent."

The bill would provide $10 billion for veterans to seek government-subsidized care from private health-care providers if they cannot get help from a VA clinic in a timely manner, or if they live more than 40 miles from a VA center.

Only those veterans enrolled in the VA health-care system by Aug. 1 would be eligible for federally funded care from private providers. That provision is an attempt to stop thousands of veterans not now treated by the VA from enrolling to get subsidized care from private doctors. The VA currently cares for nearly 9 million enrolled veterans.

The bill also would provide $5 billion for the VA to hire more doctors and nurses and improve facilities.

It would set aside another $1.5 billion for the VA to lease 27 medical facilities in 18 states and Puerto Rico. It would include up to $20.8 million for an outpatient clinic in Phoenix.

The compromise also would grant the VA secretary authority to immediately fire senior executives for poor performance. Those executives would be allowed to appeal their firings, but appeals would be streamlined and limited to a 21-day process.

Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee Chairman Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and his House counterpart, Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., closed the deal after negotiating through the weekend. The two feuded publicly last week as each accused the other of stalling, but resolved their differences amid growing pressure on Congress to pass a reform bill before adjourning for August recess.

"This bill makes certain that we address the immediate crisis of veterans being forced onto long waiting lists for health care," Sanders said. "It strengthens the VA so that it will be able to hire the doctors, nurses and medical personnel it needs, so we can permanently put an end to the long waiting lists. It addresses the very serious problem of accountability and makes certain that dishonest and incompetent senior officials do not remain employed at the VA."

Proposed reform legislation still must be approved by the House-Senate conference committee and by the full House and Senate. Sanders and Miller said they expect those approvals by the end of the week. After that, Congress is off for five weeks.

"We will probably not get a unanimous vote, but we will be able to sell this in the House," Miller said.

The compromise provides about $5 billion more than Miller had sought and about $10 billion less than Sanders had wanted. It includes $5 billion in budget offsets, bringing the total cost of the package down to $12 million in new funding, Sanders said.

"People understand that this issue should and must go beyond partisan politics," Sanders said.

Foote said it showed both sides understood the problems at the VA and that "they need to implement things that will help right now, today, tomorrow, next week, next month — not pie-in-the-sky, years down the road."

Dan Caldwell, issue and legislative campaign manager for Concerned Veterans for America, said it is the first step toward real VA reform, but that Congress and the White House have yet to address "more fundamentally, the question of what is the VA's actual role and mission."

"We plan on working with the VA committee and other members of Congress to ensure that in the future these costs are controlled and that they are offset," Caldwell said. "We feel that these blank checks being given to the VA have enabled this corrosive culture."

The VA on Monday also announced progress in getting veterans off waiting lists and into medical appointments at its Phoenix facility, which acting VA Secretary Sloan Gibson recently called "clearly the most troubled location."

Among other changes, the Phoenix VA is reducing the number of veterans on the electronic waiting list and referred more than 6,500 veterans to community providers when care was not available at the VA facility.

Space and staffing issues at the Phoenix VA are being addressed, and potential contracts are being identified to increase clinical space throughout the Valley, a VA statement said.

"(This) bipartisan, bicameral compromise agreement to address the VA health-care access crisis is a promising first step to rebuild VA's capacity and provide all enrolled veterans with timely, high-quality health care," said Garry Augustine, executive director of the Washington, D.C., headquarters office of Disabled American Veterans.

American Legion National Commander Daniel M. Dellinger called the compromise a "critical component" to solving the VA crisis, but urged more action to correct extensive shortcomings.

"It would be a great mistake to see this legislation as a one-time fix for all the woes that have been hobbling VA's performance and credibility," Dellinger said.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who worked closely with Sanders on VA reform legislation, said he looks forward to the compromise package being approved by Congress this week. "This bill is a beginning — not an end — to the efforts that must be taken to address this crisis," McCain said. "Still, this legislation includes some of the most significant changes to the VA in decades."

Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick, D-Ariz., who serves on the House-Senate conference committee that helped negotiate the compromise, called the bipartisan deal "a victory for veterans."

"Today's announcement signals an important new era of accountability," she said.

The Senate this week also is set to confirm former Procter & Gamble CEO Robert McDonald to be the new VA secretary. McDonald will replace Eric Shinseki, who resigned in May.